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21 Actors People Thought Were Miscast But Actually Ended Up Nailing The Role
21 Actors People Thought Were Miscast But Actually Ended Up Nailing The Role,I don't care if Rachel McAdams was closer in age to her onscreen mom than her peers — she IS Regina George to me.

21 Actors People Thought Were Miscast But Actually Ended Up Nailing The Role

It feels like there’s been a recent wave of outcry over characters not “fitting” who people had pictured for the role — like Halle Bailey as Ariel in The Little Mermaid, or Bella Ramsey as Ellie in The Last of Us, or even Ryan Gosling as Ken in the upcoming Barbie film. But frankly…does how the character looks in any of those cases actually matter?

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“It added to the character because you’ve got this little guy who definitely seems like he making up for a lifetime of being looked down upon by being the toughest, nastiest SOB in the room.”

—u/TheMSthrow

2. Robert De Niro’s character in Goodfellas, Jimmy, is also supposed to be young — it’s explicitly stated he’s in his late twenties.

Warner Bros.

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De Niro was 47…and was still incredible in the film.

Warner Brothers / courtesy Everett Collection

3. Rachel McAdams was also way too “old” for her role as a high school junior in Mean Girls. In fact, at 26 she was closer in age to her onscreen mom, Amy Poehler (32), than some of her teenage counterparts, like Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Seyfried. Still, she absolutely nailed the role.

Paramount / courtesy Everett Collection

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4. Another actor who was far too old for his role? Alan Rickman as Snape in the Harry Potter films. Snape would have been 31 when Harry first goes to Hogwarts, according to the books. Alan Rickman was 54 when he first began starring in the series, and 65 when it ended (at which time his character would’ve been 37). However, the role ended up being one of Rickman’s most iconic, with close to universal acclaim over his portrayal.

Warner Bros.

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5. When Hugh Jackman was cast as Wolverine in the X-Men films, he was largely known as a suave Broadway star. He’s also a full foot taller than Wolverine is supposed to be.

20th Century Fox/Courtesy: Everett Collection

Suggested by u/FlmFrk21

Wolverine is supposed to be stocky, muscular, and sort of haggard. Here’s how he looked in the cartoons, which was a little more in line with the comics.

Fox Kids Network

‘Wolverine is supposed to be short, thick, furry, probably smelly, and generally unpleasant… ya know, like the animal with the same name. Wolverines are basically steroid weasels. Meanwhile, Jackman is a tall, svelte, charismatic Broadway singer. He still did a fantastic job. But he is physically the polar opposite of the character.”

—u/Lemesplain

6. A bunch of the Game of Thrones actors looked nothing like their characters from the books, but the most glaring example is probably Peter Dinklage as Tyrion. Tyrion is supposed to be hideous and much shorter. The show also didn’t take pains to change his eye color, and they gave up on his hair color pretty quickly. Even Tyrion’s scar just serves to make him look badass and rugged rather than more hideous like in the books.

HBO

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However, no one can deny he was right for the role. He was nominated for EIGHT Emmys during the show’s run, winning four.

Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images

7. Heath Ledger was largely seen as a romantic lead before being cast in The Dark Knight — his most noteworthy roles had been in 10 Things I Hate About You and Brokeback Mountain.

Focus Films/Everett Collection

He was certainly not who anyone would’ve pictured as the Joker, especially since the role had memorably last gone to Jack Nicholson (known for playing more unhinged characters), who was beloved in the role. However, he ended up winning an Oscar for the role, and some would argue his performance eclipsed Nicholson’s.

Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection

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“Heath Ledger looked nothing like any incarnation of the Joker that I could recall at the time, but he fit perfectly into Nolan’s version of Batman. The Dark Knight ended up being a phenomenal movie.”

—u/EmberQuill

8. Speaking of Batman films…Michael Keaton also had many doubters when he was cast as Batman. At the time, he was best known for starring in comedies like Mr. Mom and Beetlejuice.

Warner Bros.

Fans were so convinced his casting was wrong that they actually began a letter-writing campaign against his casting. However, after the film’s release, Keaton became beloved in the role — and in fact, was ranked by Entertainment Weekly as the best actor to play the role.

Warner Bros./ Courtesy: Everett Collection

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9. Another actor who faced a ton of fan backlash for his casting was Tom Cruise in Interview with the Vampire. Cruise, perhaps best known as the action star of Top Gun, had never played a villain. Even the book’s author, Anne Rice, publicly disapproved of the casting. However, Rice ended up changing her mind after seeing him in the role, along with many fans.

Warner https/Bros.Courtesy Everett Collection

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“I want to hate him so bad and remember him being cast as Lestat after freaking Top Gun. Thought the casting people had lost their minds. But he was so good, so gaunt looking and I didn’t think about him being Tom Cruise.”

—u/rbkc12345

10. There was also backlash after Tom Cruise was cast as Jack Reacher. The 5’7″ actor seemed an odd choice to play the 6-foot, 5-inch, 250-pound character, but he somehow pulled it off.

Karen Ballard/©Paramount Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

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“He didn’t fit the physical description of the character, but he got the spirit of the character.”

—u/citizen_gonzo

“He just changed the character from the intimidating mammoth to a guy that people underestimate.”

—u/Particular-Fly-3643

11. One of Morgan Freeman’s most iconic roles was playing Red in The Shawshank Redemption. However, he looked a lot different than his character in the novella, who was a white, red-haired Irishman.

Columbia Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

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However, this was hardly important to the role, and Freeman was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal.

Mike Nelson / AFP via Getty Images

12. Daniel Craig’s most iconic role has been as James Bond but fans were initially reluctant to accept him in the role. Casting director Debbie McWilliams remembered that “stuff would come out about [how] he couldn’t walk and talk, he couldn’t run, he couldn’t drive a car properly, so much stuff which was completely and utterly untrue,” after Craig was cast. Fans also felt the fact that he was blonde and only 5’10” made him a bad Bond. However, pretty much everyone was convinced he was perfect after seeing Casino Royale.

Sony Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

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13. Keanu Reeves not only seemed a strange choice to play the titular character in Constantine, but the movie took basically no pains to make him more like the character. Constantine is famously blonde, wise-cracking, and British — Keanu spoke in an American accent, took the role seriously, and kept his brown hair.

Warner Bros. / courtesy Everett Collection

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“I prefer Keanu’s over the original. A wise-cracking Brit would’ve totally not fit the seriousness of the theme. The movie was actually scary when I watched it as a boy, and it still is. I hope they give the same love to the sequel as the first one.”

—u/Adammantium

If you’re curious about what he looked like in the comics, the Arrowverse version of him is a lot more accurate.

The CW

14. Chris Pratt was certainly no action star when he was cast in the MCU as Peter Quill. In fact, he probably seemed a very strange choice to play the space adventurer, considering his main claim to fame was playing the lovable doofus Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation — whose lack of physical ability is even made fun of onscreen.

NBC

But like the others on this list, when Guardians of the Galaxy came out, Pratt proved himself a bona fide movie star. His comedic timing made the film one of the most beloved Marvel entries yet, and his action prowess would go on to win him the starring role in the Jurassic World franchise.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

“I think in theory no one would’ve thought of Chris Pratt, the bozo from Parks and Recreation, as a space adventurer, but somehow it worked perfectly with James Gunn’s writing, and made Pratt a household name.”

—u/oscar_redfield

15. Playing a real-life person is hard, and modern films take pains to use prosthetics and makeup to help an actor immerse themselves in character. But frankly, when the actor is good enough, it doesn’t really matter what they look like. Take Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator — he looks nothing like Howard Hughes and was way too young for the role. Still, he pulls it off.

Miramax / courtesy Everett Collection/Hulton Archive / Getty Images

“Leonardo DiCaprio looks nothing like the real Howard Hughes to me and it’s definitely a little hard to buy his still-fairly-babyfaced 30-year-old self as a 40-something Hughes in the last act of the film, but he does such an incredible job. Should’ve been his first Oscar win IMO.”

—u/WesterosiAssassin

16. And it’s actually remarkable how little Leo looks like Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me if You Can. Still, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance.

Dreamworks / courtesy Everett Collection/Denver Post via Getty Images

17. Anthony Hopkins also failed to match Richard Nixon’s distinctive looks in the film Nixon, but it clearly didn’t matter. He was nominated for an Oscar for his role in the film.

Buena Vista Pictures/Cinergi Productions

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18. And besides them both being older white men, John Lithgow looks exactly nothing like Winston Churchill, despite playing him in The Crown. He still won an Emmy and a SAG award for his portrayal.

Alex Bailey/Netflix / courtesy Everett Collection/Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)

“He doesn’t look much like him, but Lithgow embodies the gravitas, ego, and hubris of a once-epic man in decline.”

—u/allthebacon_and_eggs

19. Fans weren’t entirely on board when Mos Def was cast in the film adaptation of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Not only was he not British, but he was primarily known as a hip-hop star. It was also an example of “color-blind casting”: the character’s race was not named in the book, but some fans had pictured him as white. But the race of the character was not as important (he’s not even human; he’s an alien), and Mos Def nailed his own take on the role.

Touchstone / courtesy Everett Collection

“There was a lot of pushback for Mos Def playing a British alien named after a common model of Ford car in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy movie. He did amazing and was really able to capture the essence of being a hoopy frood who knew where his towel is.”

—u/Towelenthusiast

20. Viggo Mortensen was a last-minute choice to play Aragorn, and he was a bit shorter and younger than he was meant to be (he was supposed to have gray in his hair). He’s also meant to look scraggly and frightening when the hobbits first encounter him as Strider, which the handsome star doesn’t quite pull off. He also knew very little about the books. But none of that seemed to matter, as the film’s entire cast, including Mortensen, ended up a prime example of perfect book-to-film casting.

New Line / courtesy Everett Collection

“Character is supposed to be very large and imposing with the blood of his Númenórean ancestors in him. He missed the expected height by a good eight inches. He probably wasn’t supposed to have a nasally pitched voice either. That being said, he kinda set a new baseline for the role because he acted well, [and his] fight scenes were amazing.”

—pattyG80

21. And finally, absolutely nobody in Grease looks like a teenager. But it doesn’t matter! It’s a great film!

Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

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Are there any actors you doubted in a role that later turned out to be great? Let us know in the comments!

Submissions have been edited for length/clarity.